Living à la Suitcase

I’m venturing to the lovely Cape of Cod (best potato chips in the land!) tomorrow so there shan’t be any bloggies for the remainder of the week. Hopefully I’ll have nothing to complain about, seeing as how this will be my third vacation in almost as many weeks.

But unfortunately with traveling, so comes packing. And there’s nothing worse in the travel-related arena (besides flight delays and air turbulence) than packing.

I’m certainly no pro. Fo sho. In fact, I’m a fairly horrific packer. I don’t have Kelly Cobb’s ability to plan outfits so far in advance.

Nor do I have Mary Rita’s uncanny foresight to bring along a different pair of shoes for each and every moment of the day.

And I surely do not, not, not have Shannon Solheim’s undoubted knack for the science of a suitcase. I’m sure her packed luggage looks like a mini California closet.

I hate picking out what makeup to bring. Eye shadows, lip glosses, eyeliners. One small bag is just such a far, far cry from my three-drawered-Sterilite full-o-MAC n’ Nars.

And the jewelry...the JEWELRY. Ugh! Last night I spent an hour - one hour - trying to untangle one of my necklaces. Which, in the end, I decided not to bring.

(However, I will say that recently I came up with the brilliant innovation to seal the clasps of my beloved necklaces into the zipper of a Ziploc. Keeps them from getting tangled! Amaaaaazing!)

But - and this is the queen of all queens, the biggest pain in the old arse that I dread about living à la suitcase: the wrinkles.

Why do clothes have to get wrinkled when they’ve been folded nicely in a suitcase? It’s so stupid. It’s so unfair! I can only carry so much wrinkle spray when I’m on the go, hellooooo!!!

(Ew, and why do garments always end up smelling campy, even when you’re not camping? It’s a damp, pervasive scent that is inherent in all suitcases. And I haaaaaaate it. No matter if I’ve worn something or not, I always end up washing the entire contents of my luggage.)

Yes. Packing is a pain in the booty. There is such a fine line between over-packing and bringing enough “in case” clothes and products. Will I need a hair dryer? Or toothpaste? Or shampoo and conditioner? Will I really want to wear dresses every day? How many pairs of jeans?

A well-packed suitcase, in my opinion, should epitomize an apartment in miniature. And, really, who likes carrying their apartment around with them?

Not I.

But still, I’m pretty psyched about Cape Codding it for a long weekend.

Ahoy!